As known, designing electrical systems for an industrial site is complex and expensive in terms of economic and human resources.
In fact, there are many operations that need to be performed, among which we may list, by way of example, the sizing of the electric cables according to loads, utilities and characteristics of the system, the grouping of the electric signals within the various cables, the search of the shortest paths for routing the wirings, the management of the connections between the apparatuses to be powered and the switchboards or between the on-site instruments and the control panels.
In particular, in connection with the design part related to lighting, the selection of the number and type of lighting sources is also determined by parameters that affect the visual perception, such as for example the color of the predominant surfaces in an environment.
Downstream of the design activity, there is the need to draw up a detailed list of materials needed for the project implementation and then proceed with the procurement of the materials themselves. In addition, the site activities and the operations of installation and connection of the electric cables must be properly planned, while monitoring the work progress, so that the industrial site can be gradually put into operation as its portions are completed.
The currently available tools aiding in the stage of designing do not allow the entire procedure to be coped with as a whole and the designer must necessarily aggregate results of many processes to get an overview not only of the project, but also of the status of the work and operations related to the construction.
This problem can give rise to duplication of information, inconsistencies and errors in the processing and use of data, as well as deficiencies in the organization and execution of the work, and therefore this not infrequently causes waste of time and economic resources.